Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Receives $200.56 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, thirteen have given a buy recommendation and three have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $200.56.

GOOG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Pivotal Research upped their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank started coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price target for the company. Finally, DA Davidson raised shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at $2,820,779.40. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $115,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 27,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,590,960. This represents a 2.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 178,957 shares of company stock worth $31,358,687 over the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 4.2% in the second quarter. Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC now owns 6,196 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,136,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Alphabet by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 20,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,848,000 after purchasing an additional 731 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.6% during the second quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 151,624 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $27,811,000 after buying an additional 2,374 shares in the last quarter. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $390,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at approximately $202,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of GOOG opened at $189.70 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $175.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $172.73. The company has a market cap of $2.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.16, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. Alphabet has a 52-week low of $131.55 and a 52-week high of $202.88.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. Alphabet’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. Analysts predict that Alphabet will post 8.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.